BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

than done. In Luke 14:16-18, Good News Translation, Jesus tells the parable of one great dinner: "There was once a man who was giving a great feast to which he invited many people. When it was time for the feast, he sent his servant to tell his guests, 'Come, everything is ready!' But they all began, one after another, to make excuses." If you read on, you will fi nd that all of the excuses seemed like pretty legitimate reasons not to show up for dinner. But Jesus didn't accept any of them. He summed the story up with this, "I tell you all that none of those who were invited will taste my dinner!" (verse 24). I refuse to miss out on the feast He has set before me. I want everything Jesus came to give me. The Lord gave us a verse to a song that says: "I will sit at the table You've prepared for me, Here I am safe from the enemy. I will feast on Your love and Your mercy, For death has lost its hold on me!" Psalm 23:5 says He has prepared a table for you even in the presence of your enemies here on earth. That means even in the midst of fear or doubt, even in the presence of people who are against you, even in the toughest times, you have a safe place to go. Sit down at the King 's table. This is a picture of rest, and real faith rests in God. Take time to slow down and savor His goodness. Do as I did as a little girl. Get excited about your food! Take a good look at everything Grace has set on the table. See the spread that He has set before you. Recall all that He has done for you. Find out from the Word everything that He has set before you, and then close your eyes and start thanking Him for every item on your plate.Psalm 103:2, says, "O my soul, bless God…. don't forget a single blessing!" (MSG). As you thank God, you are feeding on His faithfulness. Grace has set the table. Faith eats everything on the plate. Come and fi nd your seat. It's dinner time, y'all. Let's eat! If you're going to grow in the kingdom of God, you're going to do it just like a seed that's been planted in the ground. How does a seed grow? All at once? No, it grows constantly—24 hours a day—a little all the time until it accomplishes what it was created to do. Many of us don't operate that way spiritually. We study and pray very hard for a few days and then quit. Then, when some disaster comes, we make a mad attempt to pray and stand on The WORD, all the while realizing that, for some reason, we're just not as strong as we ought to be. There's no such thing as an overnight success in the kingdom of God! Real strength, real growth comes as you consistently and constantly keep The WORD before your eyes, in your ears, and in the midst of your heart. Not just when you want to or when you feel like it, but constantly, like the seed, a little all the time. A man came up to me once and said, "Man, your ministry just took off overnight, didn't it?" "If it did," I answered, "it "Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it." Luke 13:18-19 A Little Every Day was certainly the longest night I ever spent in my life!" From his perspective my success did seem to spring up quickly. That's because he didn't see me during all those hours and weeks and months and years I spent in The WORD of God. He didn't see the daily process that lay behind that success. He just saw the results. Make up your mind to begin that daily process of constant growth today. Deter mine to start putting The WORD in your heart consistently. Every day a line here, a line there—a tape here, a tape there. Begin to act as though that Word is true every hour of the day regardless of what comes or how you feel. Keep adding to your faith, meditating on it, confessing it, seven days a week. Eventually, your faith will be bigger than you ever dreamed it could be. by Kenneth Copeland B V O V : 2 3

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